Photographer Dan Martland is no stranger to capturing New York City. But this summer he scored a shot that he doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to top.
“I love capturing lightning strikes,” Martland tells PetaPixel. “But not just any old lightning strikes like you see out west. I love seeing lightning bolts striking iconic New York City buildings. I just find these images more powerful.”
However, lightning photography is not straightforward. Martland likens it to fishing where “you can just come home with nothing.” The photographer uses weather apps like RadarScope, My Lightning Tracker Pro, and Lighting Alarm to anticipate electrical discharges.
“When a storm has potential, I tend to head out to the waterfront in New Jersey looking at NYC. I usually pick two frames with two camera bodies,” Martland explains.
But how to capture lightning? Martland says the “old way” was to use the camera’s interval mode and shoot constantly. The problem with that method is later on you have to sift through thousands of RAW files.
Martland prefers a lightning trigger. “Many companies make them, and I have owned and tried pretty much all of them,” he explains. He settled on the MK Control Lightning Bug which is equipped on both of his Sony Alpha 1s.
“This device sits in your cold shoe and plugs into the USB port of the camera. When it detects a lightning bolt, it fires the camera for you,” Martland says. “The hardest bit is pointing the camera in the right direction and controlling your exposure. And keeping raindrops off your lens.”
Triple Lightning Strike
On the evening of August 28, 2024, a big storm was predicted to strike Manhattan. Martland was prepared. But as the event drew nearer, the weather apps were giving bad news: the storm was going to miss the city.
“I was pretty bummed as getting lightning strikes is pretty addictive. Once you get your first one, you just want more,” says Martland.
Nevertheless, Martland decided to head out anyway thinking that the lightning could strike the Verrazano Bridge. It meant he wasn’t at his usual, sheltered location. It meant he was shooting from inside his car.
As he huddled beneath his trunk door, Martland watched as the storm clouds drifted away from the city and out toward the ocean. Simply sitting back and watching the show.
“For some reason, I decided to point a camera at the city anyway,” adds Martland. “Just for those you never know moments and my god, I’m so glad I did.”
Martland says the image he ended up capturing — a triple lightning strike hitting One World Trade Center, the Empire State Building, and a construction crane on the new JPMorgan Chase Tower on Park Avenue — is “so rare” because there he had a clear view with no rain.
“I was able to capture this massive triple strike hitting the city in one frame,” Martland says.
“Triple Strike”
Do not adjust your television set…. Yes this just happened and I can’t believe I was able to capture it. :zap:️:zap:️:zap:️@EmpireStateBldg @_WTCOfficial @jpmorgan Building. #NYC #storm #lightningstrikes pic.twitter.com/Xn98Uuh9E4— Dan Martland (@DanTVusa) August 29, 2024
He says he’s never witnessed anything like it and was overjoyed that he caught it on camera. The lightning strike was so big that Martland’s colleague captured the same strike from his vantage point all the way over in Connecticut (see below).
Quadruple strike tonight over NYC viewed from Norwalk CT. #ctwx #nywx @NWSNewYorkNY @ryanhanrahan pic.twitter.com/wuXRt4zTW9
— Soren Serrano (@soren_serrano) August 29, 2024
“It was one of those pinch-me moments I’ll never forget,” Martland says. “The hairs on my arms and the back of my neck were standing up, and I was shaking. I think from excitement and not the electrical current.”
Martland says that he doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to top the triple lighting stike image but when the next storm rolls in, he’ll be out there anyway, trying his best.
More of Martland’s work can be found on his Twitter, Instagram, and website.
Image credits: Photographs by Dan Martland
